UNOCI peacekeepers helps rescue victims after building collapses in Attécoubé

The engineering corps of the Egyptian Contingent serving with the United Nations Operation in Côte d'Ivoire (UNOCI), the United Nations Police (UNPOL) and the Togolese Contingent on Wednesday, 5 November 2014, extracted some 20 workers who were trapped under the rubble after a high-rise building collapsed in the Boribana neighbourhood of Attécoubé, in Abidjan.

The building was in an area considered to be of high risk and was in the process of being demolished when it collapsed. After UNOCI was called by the local authorities to help them rescue victims of the accident, the Mission quickly dispatched a team comprising UNPOL, a medical unit from the Togolese Contingent and Egyptian engineers to the site of the incident.

During the rescue operation, UNPOL provided security in collaboration with the Ivorian police , while the Egyptian engineers helped Ivorian firefighters to extract victims from the rubble. The Togolese medical unit provided first aid to victims before they were evacuated to the University Hospital in Yopougon.

According to a team of UN police officers who were at the scene of the incident until the early hours of Thursday morning, eight bodies were pulled out of the collapsed building. All the injured victims were taken to Yopougon University Hospital and five of them were released after being treated.

A UNPOL team was still at the site of incident to monitor the situation.